The first commercially attractive cellular telephones or terminals were introduced in the market at the end of the 1980's. Since then, a lot of effort has been made in making smaller radio communication terminals, with much help from the miniaturisation of electronic components and the development of more efficient batteries. Today, numerous manufacturers offer pocket-sized radio communication terminals with a wide variety of capabilities and services, such as a camera.
In order to attract customers the terminal manufacturers have therefore taken further measures to strengthen their position in the competition. Size and cost is getting more and more essential in mobile handsets design. The marked trend is that mobile handsets are getting thinner. One limiting factor for the phone thickness is the built in camera.
One way of mounting the camera module in the radio communication terminal is by the use of camera sockets.
When the cameras get smaller the socket mechanics also decrease in size. This makes spring connectors that electronically connect the camera module to the printed circuit board thinner and more fragile. During mounting of such a camera module, there is a risk that the spring connectors are bent in a way that will short circuit the spring connectors.